The wild bears that Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers feeds to study are a public safety risk, and the DNR was justified in refusing to renew Rogers’ research permit, a Minnesota judge concluded.

Rogers shouldn’t be allowed to “collar or intentionally and repeatedly handle bears, or visit the dens of bears,” Chief Administrative Law Judge Tammy Pust wrote in a legal document released Tuesday.

Pust’s findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations serve as a victory for the Department of Natural Resources and a defeat for Rogers, who had sued the DNR after it refused to renew his longstanding research permit to attach radio collars to wild bears and place video cameras in their dens.

Rogers disagrees with Pust, and if things continue to go against him, he will appeal in court, he said in an interview.

In late February and early March, Pust presided over a nearly two-week proceeding that was similar to a “trial” of Rogers’ methods and the DNR’s accusations that his hand-feeding of wild bears made them lose their fear of people and become a possible danger. The event marked the first time a disinterested third-party weighed such a question, which had been festering among wildlife officials for years as Rogers continued to feed and study more than 200 bears around Eagle’s Nest Township between Tower and Ely.

Rogers maintained he didn’t start feeding bears there; residents did. He’s merely studying the effects, he has said repeatedly. Rogers also intentionally habituates wild bears so he can affix radio collars without tranquilizers and later, with some bears, walk with them in the woods to observe their behavior.

Pust’s conclusion: “The preponderance of evidence at hearing showed that 15 years of Dr. Rogers’ study activities has significantly contributed to bona fide public safety concerns. Approximately 50 bears, each human-habituated and food conditioned to varying degrees, roam wild in the Eagles Nest Township area. The evidence established that some of these bears, both collared and uncollared, have exhibited unnatural behaviors around humans: failing to startle when confronted with loud and unexpected noises; learning to climb human-constructed stairs in purposeful efforts to locate food; closely approaching young children; remaining on human-occupied property in spite of hazing activities that would typically cause a bear to retreat; standing up and pawing at cabin and car windows; and nipping and slapping at people unable to provide them with expected food.”

Key to her reasoning was that the “vast majority of wildlife professionals hold to the scientific view that human feeding of bears increases the safety risk to bears and to humans.”

For years, Rogers has been arguing that that vast majority is simply wrong. “Dr. Rogers’ beliefs may be correct,” Pust wrote, but added later: “It is not the Department’s job to lead that charge by ignoring the prevailing views of the scientific community in favor of the limited minority views espoused by Dr. Rogers. Instead, the Department’s responsibility is to protect the species from harm and exploitation while it also protects the public.”

A DNR-designated employee with no ties to the matter will make a final determination, likely near the end of the summer, after taking into account arguments from both sides, as well as Pust’s findings. The DNR has designated Kent Lokkesmoe, who oversees the agency’s capital expenditures, to render a final decision.

If Lokkesmoe sides with Pust and the DNR, “we gotta appeal,” Rogers said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Pust said Rogers could continue to study bears, feed them, run field study courses and use proliferate existing den-cam video footage to “educate the public about these magnificent creatures.”

That doesn’t cut it, Rogers said. “Without the radio collars, we can’t find the bears,” he said. “If we can’t put den cams in, we can’t learn about the least-studied part of their lives.”

Rogers said he was surprised by Pust’s conclusions. “We really thought based on the evidence, we would win big. Contrary to what she said, they did not make their public safety case.”

Some of Pust’s words were strong, backing up the DNR’s most direct accusation that some of Rogers’ tactics were more about entertainment for paying clients than scientific study.

“The videos of the punching and the dancing, and the photographs of Dr. Rogers and others kissing bears, stroking bears, posing with bears and mouth-feeding wild bears, indicate that these animals have not been accorded the level of respect for their nature that the law is designed to ensure.” To read Pust’s entire document, go to TwinCities.com/Outdoors.

As outdoors editor for the Pioneer Press, Orrick fishes, paddles, hunts, skis and romps across the region while staying on top of outdoors news. When the occasion demands, he's also been known to cover topics ranging from politics to golf. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and son.​

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